{{Short description|1998 book by Marilee Strong}} {{Infobox book | name = A Bright Red Scream: Self-Mutilation and the Language of Pain | title_orig = | translator = | image = ABrightRedScream.jpg | caption = Cover of the 1st edition | author = [[Marilee Strong]] | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = United States | language = English | series = | subject = [[Self-harm]] | genre = | published = 1998 ([[Viking Press]]) | media_type = Print | pages = 232 | isbn = 0-670-87781-6 | oclc = 39281973 | dewey = 616.8582 | congress = RC552 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }}
'''''A Bright Red Scream: Self-Mutilation and the Language of Pain''''' is a 1998 non-fiction [[psychology]] book written by American journalist [[Marilee Strong]] about [[self-harm]]. Published by [[Viking Press]], it is the first [[general public|general interest]] book on self-harm.<ref name=SFC>{{Cite news |last=Rubin |first=Sylvia |title=The Unkindest Cut |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=October 11, 1998 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-Unkindest-Cut-An-estimated-2-million-2986127.php |access-date=January 29, 2010}}</ref>
==Background== In 1987, American psychiatrist [[Armando Favazza]] published ''[[Bodies Under Siege|Bodies Under Siege: Self-mutilation in Culture and Psychiatry]]'', the first psychiatric text on the subject of self-harm. Marilee Strong was an American journalist who had spent several weeks in [[Mozambique]] on a [[Pulitzer Fellowship]] reporting on the [[psychological trauma]] experienced by children as a result of the [[Mozambican Civil War|civil war]].<ref name=pref17>''A Bright Red Scream'', p. xvii.</ref> When she returned to the United States, she heard about self-harm and decided to research the subject.<ref name=pref17 /> In 1993, she wrote an article for ''[[San Francisco (magazine)|San Francisco Focus]]'' entitled "A Bright Red Scream", part of a surge in media interest in the topic in the years following the publication of Favazza's book.<ref name=pref13>Favazza, Armando. ''A Bright Red Scream'' (Introduction), p. xiii.</ref> Strong's was the first in-depth magazine article on self-harm and was the cover story for that issue.<ref name=SFC /><ref name=pref17 /> To research the book, she interviewed over 50 people who intentionally harm themselves, many of them by cutting.<ref name=SFC /><ref name=swenson>{{Cite journal |last=Swenson |first=Charles R. |title=Book Review — A Bright Red Scream: Self-Mutilation and the Language of Pain |journal=[[Psychiatric Services]] |issue=50 |pages=1234–1235 |date=September 1999 |doi=10.1176/ps.50.9.1234 |url=http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=83401 |access-date=January 29, 2010|url-access=subscription }}</ref> She also interviewed neuroscientists, psychologists and psychiatrists, including Favazza, a recognised expert on self-harm, and [[Bessel van der Kolk]], a specialist in [[posttraumatic stress disorder]].<ref name=pref16>''A Bright Red Scream'', p. xvi.</ref> The title of the article and book came from an interview with a self-harmer who described the action of self-mutilation as a cry for help, calling it "a bright red scream".<ref name=pref18>''A Bright Red Scream'', p. xviii.</ref>
==Subject== Millions of people in the United States regularly engage in self-harm, intentionally injuring themselves.<ref name=pref15>''A Bright Red Scream'', p. xv</ref> Many of them use sharp objects such as knives, razors or broken glass to cut themselves.<ref name=pref15 /> Strong set out to find the meaning behind this intentional self-harm, exploring related fields of research like [[child abuse]], [[Substance dependence|addiction]] and posttraumatic stress disorder.<ref name=pref16 />
==Critical reception== Charles R. Swenson reviewed the book for [[American Psychiatric Association]] journal ''[[Psychiatric Services]]''. He called it "an illuminating and compassionate book" and said that the "greatest strength of this book is journalistic."<ref name=swenson /> Regarding Strong's focus on the childhood psychological trauma experienced by many cutters, he criticised her for neglecting "the nearly 50 percent of self-mutilating individuals who do not report trauma histories".<ref name=swenson /> Writing for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', Tamala M. Edwards called it "a compelling tour of the trauma and science of self-injury".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Edwards |first=Tamala M. |title=What the Cutters Feel |newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=June 24, 2001 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,140405,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604094230/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,140405,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |access-date=January 29, 2010}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}} *{{cite book |last = Strong |first=Marilee |title=A Bright Red Scream: Self-Mutilation and the Language of Pain |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |year=1998 |url=https://archive.org/details/brightredscreams00stro |url-access = registration |isbn=0-670-87781-6}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bright Red Scream, A}} [[Category:1998 non-fiction books]] [[Category:English-language non-fiction books]] [[Category:Popular psychology books]] [[Category:Viking Press books]] [[Category:Self-harm]]